Problem:The U.S. government is spending billions of dollars to help move everyone's health care records onto electronic databases. There are many good things about this: electronic health care records can be accessed from anywhere, they take up less physical space and they are very portable.
However, with these benefits come severe privacy concerns as well. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (or HIPAA, for short) claims to protect your medical data from probing eyes. The problem is, its language is weak. Your records are already an open book to millions of providers, employers, government agencies, insurance companies, billing firms, transcription services, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmaceutical companies, data miners, creditors and more. This is considered “routine” use, and is not covered by HIPAA.
In fact, in 2002 HHS actually amended the HIPAA “Privacy Rule” to eliminate the patient's “right of consent” altogether. So, you do not own your data, someone else does. It's time we changed this.
What We Do:There is only one solution: We, as individuals, must insist on the right to control our own e-health records. Not only must the “right of consent” be reinstituted by law, but wide-ranging privacy protections must be put in place as well. We must have the right not merely to “opt-out” of any requests for our health information, but to “opt-in” to data sharing only when we choose to do so.
Help Us:
- Raise awareness of this vital cause. Spread around our video. Educate yourself and your friends on HIPAA and the laws that deal with it.
- Support legislation that supports medical privacy. Contact your senator or congressman and demand that this important issue be addressed
- And, as always, we need your support and donations so that we can continue this vital work.
NEWS RELEASE
FRONT ROYAL, Va., March 19, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Population Research Institute (PRI) has released another short, humorous cartoon -- this time explaining the issue of medical privacy, and some of the threats posed by electronic medical records.
The video -- available at www.pop.org/medical-privacy -- is a minute and a half long. In the snappy, humorous style that has come to define PRI's cartoons, it explains how existing laws leave your medical records wide open to everyone from government officials to insurance companies.
"Even without a break-in," says Steven Mosher, PRI's president, "your electronic health records are already an open book to millions of providers, employers, government agencies, insurance companies, billing firms, transcription services, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmaceutical companies, data miners, creditors and more. This is considered 'routine' use, and is not covered by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996).
"In fact," Mosher continues, "you probably did not know that in 2002 HHS actually amended the HIPAA 'Privacy Rule' to eliminate the patient's 'right of consent' altogether."
"This video, like all our others, is designed to get a discussion going," says Joseph Powell, the video's creator and animator. "PRI believes that the solution to most privacy issues is for us to take control of our own medical records, and this is what the video recommends."
"Our hope," says Colin Mason, PRI's Director of Media, "is to use humor and smart graphics to get people thinking about this issue, which is often swept under the rug by politicians and the media. We can't allow the advantages of electronic records to blind us to the dangers."
"Our records are our identity," Mason concludes. "We deserve to be able to control them."
